M.A.I.L. (Maille Artisans International League) is an international community of artisans and volunteers dedicated to the advancement of the chainmaille artform. We aim to encourage the sharing and spreading of information, archiving as many techniques and weaves as possible.

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This design has been used by many ancient cultures including the Celts, Vikings and Anglo Saxons but the first people to use it was the Egyptians.

Start by cutting several lengths of wire (number will depend on how long you want it, an average bracelet will need about 21) 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm) long.

Next start a spiral by using roundnose pliers, at each end.

Hold the start of the spiral with your smooth jaw pliers and push the end up with your thumb to create the spiral.

Do the same at the other end.

Spiral the ends equally until you have a piece 1 1/2 inches (4cm) long, like this. You can have this space longer making a longer connecting loop which also looks nice.

Hold the middle of this piece at the wide end of your roundnose pliers

and bend each end down around the pliers like this.

You should then have a unit that looks like this. You can gently hammer this now if you want to. Hammering them will make them slightly stronger and flatter. You can use an ordinary hammer on a flat hard surface but put a few layers of paper under and over the unit to prevent marking it.

Hold the base of the loop with the straight edge of your pliers and bend the spirals down together. Don't squash it flat yet!

You should now have a unit that looks like this.

When you have several of these units you can start assembling them. Insert the loop end into the loop end of the previous unit like this.

It should look like this.

You can now squash them flatter to help keep them from coming apart.

Carry on until you have the length you want.

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